We have a diner that's sort of like that near here, though they have managed to stay reasonably good. This place is a diner/soda counter in an old pharmacy that's been around for at least as long as my parents can remember. They're pretty sure it opened in the late 30's/early 40's. It's still always packed, and most of the staff are reasonable, but there's still one older woman there who really needed to have retired a long time ago. Thankfully, though, the rest of the staff quietly make up for her reduced abilities these days. She's such a character though, that I think everybody, including customers, would want her to stick around just to chat even if she ever does retire.

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Some people lift weights. I lift measures. It's a far more esoteric workout. - (Quoted from a personal friend)

I tell my DH to stop causing himself needless pain by trying to use the local mailbox store.

1. When we had our server fiasco we used them to ship our crashed server to the northeast for info retrieval. They insisted we needed a pallet. Okay, I thought it was a bit much, but went with it.

2. On this visit my DH needed to send a box of documents and he was told it had to have a crate built for it. What? It's going to the next state over. No, I don't think so.

3. My DH needed to send a letter to his University in Leuven, Belgium. He wanted to use UPS because the tracking is better than the postal system. First he was told that UPS doesn't go to Belgium. After much discussion they concede that UPS does go to Belgium, but they will need to build a crate for the letter. Again! What?! DH opted to chance it with the postal system.

4. Today we have to send back a our DISH receiver. It has a label, is taped, paid for, just needs to be picked up by UPS on the routine stop. Yes. Yes. Of course. They will need to build a crate for it. DH drove to the next city to the UPS central office. to drop it off.

Turtledove, I would run, not walk, to a different tax prep company. I don't want to stray into legal advise, but I will say they'e told you several things that are incorrect. You don't need to be dealing with badly prepared taxes in addition to the other stuff.

Take last years also - so the new place can file an amended return if you need to.

Turtledove, I think the above is very good advice.

I'm going to also suggest that you consider going to a "real" Certified Public Accountant instead of just a "tax place" in order to be more likely to get a tax preparer with more training to be able to be sure both year's returns are done correctly. A CPA may cost more, but it might be worth it during these two transition years, at least. (If the CPA is too expensive you could always go back to a less expensive preparer next year, when, presumably, your return wouldn't be as complicated.)

Turtledove, I would run, not walk, to a different tax prep company. I don't want to stray into legal advise, but I will say they'e told you several things that are incorrect. You don't need to be dealing with badly prepared taxes in addition to the other stuff.

Take last years also - so the new place can file an amended return if you need to.

Turtledove, I think the above is very good advice.

I'm going to also suggest that you consider going to a "real" Certified Public Accountant instead of just a "tax place" in order to be more likely to get a tax preparer with more training to be able to be sure both year's returns are done correctly. A CPA may cost more, but it might be worth it during these two transition years, at least. (If the CPA is too expensive you could always go back to a less expensive preparer next year, when, presumably, your return wouldn't be as complicated.)

Good luck with this all.

I second the CPA advice. My dad, who did tax prep on the side, always did my parent's taxes. after he died, my mom found an accountant, who she's used ever since. She has some investments, royalty income from natural resources on property she owns in another state, etc. So while it may cost a bit more than going to a tax chain, she knows they're done right.

Can I say "the entire mall" because today I could not find a single thing I wanted to buy. I know it's totally a first world problem, not to mention a matter of taste preferences, but yeah, nothing looked even slightly attractive. It made me sad since this is the first time in almost 6 months that I've gone shopping for myself, only to find that every store seems to have embraced the mid 80s. My choices were neon skinny jeans + sheer tops over bustiers or with suspenders, or clunky nautical prints in flowy polyester or rayon.

Can I say "the entire mall" because today I could not find a single thing I wanted to buy. I know it's totally a first world problem, not to mention a matter of taste preferences, but yeah, nothing looked even slightly attractive. It made me sad since this is the first time in almost 6 months that I've gone shopping for myself, only to find that every store seems to have embraced the mid 80s. My choices were neon skinny jeans + sheer tops over bustiers or with suspenders, or clunky nautical prints in flowy polyester or rayon.

Can I say "the entire mall" because today I could not find a single thing I wanted to buy. I know it's totally a first world problem, not to mention a matter of taste preferences, but yeah, nothing looked even slightly attractive. It made me sad since this is the first time in almost 6 months that I've gone shopping for myself, only to find that every store seems to have embraced the mid 80s. My choices were neon skinny jeans + sheer tops over bustiers or with suspenders, or clunky nautical prints in flowy polyester or rayon.

I dunno, after looking at my baby pics from the 70s and my childhood pics from the 80s, I'll take eye-bleedingly goofy 80s fashion over the bizarre shades of fall colors goofy 70s fashion, but that's just me.

Just wait until the 2000 - 2009* fashions come back - all the worst of the preceding 40 years of fashion! All at once!

*Did anyone ever come up with a good name for that decade? I kinda liked "The Noughties" but don't know if anyone else would understand what I meant.

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What part of v_e = \sqrt{\frac{2GM}{r}} don't you understand? It's only rocket science!

"The problem with re-examining your brilliant ideas is that more often than not, you discover they are the intellectual equivalent of saying, 'Hold my beer and watch this!'" - Cindy Couture

I tell my DH to stop causing himself needless pain by trying to use the local mailbox store.

1. When we had our server fiasco we used them to ship our crashed server to the northeast for info retrieval. They insisted we needed a pallet. Okay, I thought it was a bit much, but went with it.

2. On this visit my DH needed to send a box of documents and he was told it had to have a crate built for it. What? It's going to the next state over. No, I don't think so.

3. My DH needed to send a letter to his University in Leuven, Belgium. He wanted to use UPS because the tracking is better than the postal system. First he was told that UPS doesn't go to Belgium. After much discussion they concede that UPS does go to Belgium, but they will need to build a crate for the letter. Again! What?! DH opted to chance it with the postal system.

4. Today we have to send back a our DISH receiver. It has a label, is taped, paid for, just needs to be picked up by UPS on the routine stop. Yes. Yes. Of course. They will need to build a crate for it. DH drove to the next city to the UPS central office. to drop it off.

Sounds like someone at the shop is making $$$$ off the crates. I would report them to UPS on suspicion of defrauding customers.